UFC 98 salaries: Hughes and Evans combine for $400K of $957K payroll

Despite losing his title to Lyoto Machida in the night’s main event, former UFC light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans tied for the biggest reported payday at UFC 98 with $200,000.

Co-main-event winner Matt Hughes, who edged Matt Serra for a decision win, also earned $200,000, $100,000 of which was a win bonus.

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) recently requested and today received the list of official salaries from the Nevada State Athletic Commission, which put the night’s reported payroll at $957,000.

UFC 98 took place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The event, which aired live on pay-per-view, drew 12,606 attendees for a gate of $3.4 million, according to UFC President Dana White.

Other top earners from UFC 98 included new champ Machida ($140,000), Serra ($75,000), Chael Sonnen ($50,000) and Brock Larson ($42,000). Evans would have earned an additional $175,000 as a win bonus, and Serra could have doubled his salary with a $75,000 win bonus.

Now, the usual disclaimer: The figures do not include deductions for items such as insurance, licenses and taxes. Additionally, the figures do not include money paid by sponsors, which can oftentimes be a substantial portion of a fighter’s income. They also do not include any other “locker room” or special bonuses the UFC oftentimes pays.

For example, the figures above do not include the UFC’s traditional “fight night” bonuses. The UFC awarded $60,000 UFC 98 bonuses to Serra and Hughes (Fight of the Night), Machida (KO of the Night) and Larson (Submission of the Night).

In other words, the above salary figures are simply base salaries reported to the commission and do not reflect entire compensation packages for the event.

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